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Beam-Riding and Sail Stability (sending "starchips" to α Centauri: travel time 20-40yrs)
Centauri Dreams ^ | 6/23/17 | Paul Gilster

Posted on 06/24/2017 11:15:56 AM PDT by LibWhacker

click here to read article


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1 posted on 06/24/2017 11:15:56 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Cool. In 100 years they’ll be saying “It’s not exactly beam science!”


2 posted on 06/24/2017 11:22:22 AM PDT by bigbob (People say believe half of what you see son and none of what you hear - M. Gaye)
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To: LibWhacker

it’s cool I guess but it is not going to inspire anyone. You can’t excite people or inspire kids to explore the hard sciences if you keep sending robots and chips into space.


3 posted on 06/24/2017 11:44:33 AM PDT by brucedickinson
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To: LibWhacker

probably nothing the human race will get a better ROI on than investment in space propulsion


4 posted on 06/24/2017 12:12:23 PM PDT by thoughtomator
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To: LibWhacker

Starchip... maybe Doritos will fund this is you let them put their logo on it.


5 posted on 06/24/2017 12:17:26 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: LibWhacker

One question... where is the beam located ?


6 posted on 06/24/2017 12:31:58 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: UCANSEE2

Where is the beam located?

Sheesh, didn’t read the article? The beam hits the sail to make it go.


7 posted on 06/24/2017 12:45:10 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: UCANSEE2
That's what I'm wondering. Putting it almost anywhere involves more movement and noise. Then there's sheer distance necessitating an incredibly narrow angle, with any angle wider than the craft at distance is wasted energy - and we're talking a scale of one meter spread at one light year distance, 10^−16 degrees.
8 posted on 06/24/2017 12:48:08 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (It's not "white privilege", it's "Puritan work ethic". Behavior begets consequences.)
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To: LibWhacker

Until we figure out the anti-gravity drive propulsion systems that Bob Lazar worked on at Groom Lake (near Area 51) we will never travel to another star.


9 posted on 06/24/2017 12:57:27 PM PDT by Mr. K (***THERE IS NO CONSEQUENCE OF REPEALING OBAMACARE THAT IS WORSE THAN OBAMACARE ITSELF***)
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To: UCANSEE2; ctdonath2
The beam is a laser beam fired from earth at a "starchip," and that beam provides the propulsion for the miniature spacecraft. Yes, there are huge engineering challenges associated with this method of interstellar propulsion, but nothing in principle that can't be overcome -- at least no showstoppers have been identified yet.

This article explains it far better than I ever could. There's also a pretty interesting article about it on Wikipedia.

10 posted on 06/24/2017 1:30:48 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: Mr. K

But we can send miniature robotic craft.


11 posted on 06/24/2017 1:37:47 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Read “MOTE IN GOD’S EYE” - alien space craft uses laser
powered solar sail


12 posted on 06/24/2017 1:56:14 PM PDT by njslim
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To: LibWhacker

So, probably 80 years or more round trip...

Wait a century or so and that time will be cut down to months or days.


13 posted on 06/24/2017 6:16:40 PM PDT by Crucial
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To: LibWhacker

Not sure what the source of funding is, but NASA funding requires many aspects of diversity and islamic tenets...Don’t see any of this described in article.


14 posted on 06/24/2017 7:16:44 PM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is another agitator for republicanism like Sam Adams when we need him?)
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To: LibWhacker

How will this laser be powered?

L


15 posted on 06/24/2017 7:19:29 PM PDT by Lurker (America burned the witch.)
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To: LibWhacker

And how will this sail be protected from impacts?

L


16 posted on 06/24/2017 7:20:40 PM PDT by Lurker (America burned the witch.)
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To: Lurker

>>>How will this laser be powered?<<<

Unicorn Farts and Liberal Empathy.


17 posted on 06/24/2017 7:23:11 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative ( THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: Crucial

No round trip. This technology is for robotic spacecraft. They won’t be coming back.


18 posted on 06/24/2017 7:47:57 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: Lurker

That’s one of the things they are studying. One approach calls for sending a large number of starchips (they’re “cheap”) to Alpha Centauri such that the probability of at least one of them surviving is large. If only one survives, the mission is a success.


19 posted on 06/25/2017 1:47:44 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: Lurker

I guess one of the most favored ideas at the moment is to use a “phased array” of lasers, powered by... Good question! That’s just one of the many things they’ll be looking at.


20 posted on 06/25/2017 2:03:06 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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